The Gotham Job
by Redhazard
Summary: In order to maintain his reputation as an international jewel thief, Kaito has to leave Tokyo every now and then. This time his target is in Gotham. Sure, he could have chosen literally any place in the world, but where was the fun in that?


**Disclaimer** : Redhazard owns neither Magic Kaito nor Batman in any shape or form.

 **xXx**

 **The Gotham Job**

 **xXx**

Being a famous criminal while still in high school had its fair share of complications, travelling chief among them.

Kaito Kid was the International Criminal #1412, not the Japanese Criminal #1412. His father had stolen gems from all over the world, and Kaito could not afford to do any less. The last thing he needed was for people to start drawing their own conclusions as to what Kaito Kid could and could not do.

One trip to Osaka. Two to Kyoto. One to Italy. Two to France. The list went on.

Trips were important. People knew the bulk of his crimes happened in Tokyo, but he couldn't let anyone know just how hard it was for him to steal anywhere other than Tokyo.

It wasn't that travelling to another country was hard.

He was a master of disguise with dozens of fake documents. He could go wherever he wanted. Most of the time he didn't even need to use fake documents. Airport security was a joke and people rarely noticed one extra person in the plane.

Sometimes it was as easy as impersonating a crew member who happened to be too sick to make it to the flight that day.

This time he was Captain Atasuke Saito of the Japan Airlines Flight JL8 B788. The real one had come down with a bad cold. It was anyone's guess how the airline had failed to receive the call saying he would be unable to make it. The real Saito would later swear he had talked with his superior about it. The gruff voice on the phone had been unmistakable.

A true mystery.

For Kaito Kid moving between countries was no trouble at all.

The problem was Kuroba Kaito's. The problem was a student missing from school every time a certain thief happened to pull a heist outside of Tokyo.

The problem was an annoying British high-school detective who happened to be his classmate, and a mustachioed detective who lived next door and was way smarter than most people gave him credit for.

When Kaito Kid traveled, Kuroba Kaito needed to get creative. He couldn't be sick all the time. He needed to travel. If possible, to a country that had nothing to do with Kid's current target with all the documents and witnesses to prove it.

To this day, Hakuba still hadn't figured out how Kaito Kid was able to steal a museum in Paris less than half an hour after he had talked and eaten with Kuroba Kaito in London.

The times Kuroba Kaito was sick (He wasn't made of money. There were only so many international tickets he could buy in a year) he made damn sure his best friend and neighbor was so convinced she had seen him in the house next to hers at the time of the heist that she would be willing to swear it in front of a jury.

He felt guilty about using Aoko like that. He really did. However, a Phantom Thief had to do what a Phantom Thief had to do.

This time was no different.

One hour after his plane landed he left the airport with a smile on his face and luggage in hand.

Kaito Kid had landed on Gotham.

xXx

For billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Bruce Wayne it had been a quiet week. There had been no important parties and, beyond a tennis game with the mayor, his only physical activity had been helping Alfred switch the clocks of the mansion over to Daylight Saving Time.

For Batman it had been a week featuring one gang war, a new variation of Venom hitting the streets, and the Mad Hatter's latest plot.

A quiet week too in other words.

Bruce Wayne had been able to, for once, actually read the morning's newspaper while sitting down and drinking a hot cup of coffee in his kitchen as opposed to his cave.

As he brought the coffee mug to his lips, he saw the day's headline: _Kaito Kid to steal Gotham Museum's Mogul Emerald!_

Below there was a quote by Commissioner Gordon. The police department was working overtime to make sure the gem was safe.

Bruce had already known about it. One did not become the world's greatest detective by ignoring current events. It all started three weeks ago. The museum's director had found the theft note next to his pillow. It had made the front page soon after. The heist note had even been included in the article:

 _With both hands reaching for the sky before daylight, I shall save the largest emerald of Gotham from captivity. Let us meet under the first full moon of the month._

 _-Kaito Kid-_

"Planning on acquiring a new playmate tonight, sir?" Alfred asked, putting down some freshly baked croissants on the table.

Bruce frowned and considering his words.

"I had not planned on going," he said at last, and it was the truth.

He knew about Kaito Kid's reputation. His mentor in the art of escape, Giovani Zatara, had spoken highly of the skill of the Phantom Thief.

As far as Bruce was concerned, he could not see anything praise-worthy about someone who would use his skills for simple crime. He had said as much to Zatanna back then. She had not been happy about it, and that had been the beginning of one of their longest fights.

That she had a giant poster of the Phantom Thief in her bedroom may have had something to do with it.

Regardless, it was a fact the Phantom Thief never stole anything permanently. Sometimes the jewel was returned the next day. Sometimes it took a few weeks. It did not matter. The Phantom Thief came in, dazzled everyone who would look at him, and took his prize only to return it at a later date, all without a single casualty.

There was no reason for him to go and stop the thief. He had actual crimes to take care of.

Alfred nodded.

"Just as well, I would so hate to see the reputation of Gotham's Dark Knight tarnished," Alfred said.

Bruce put down the newspaper. "Excuse me?"

"A gentleman thief is not an easily-caught prey, Master Bruce," Alfred explained in perfect deferential tone. "It takes a high level of _class_ to play the part, something your usual foes are all sorely lacking. Best for you not to step out of your comfort zone. Now if you will excuse me, I must change the tires of your evening car."

It should be said Bruce Wayne was the opposite of stupid. He knew exactly what Alfred was trying to goad him into doing and why.

Alfred worried.

He always worried and with good reason. The butler had treated countless bullet wounds during his life and most of them belonged to the caped crusader. Instead of a night dancing with bullets, Alfred would vastly prefer to see him facing off against the non-lethal thief.

Bruce looked at the newspaper and smiled.

xXx

There was a crowd. Of course there was a crowd.

Just about every other super villain out there seemed to have fans in Gotham. From Poison Ivy to Killer Crock. Just not the Joker. Never the Joker. At least in Gotham. No one who lived within Smilex range of that lunatic would ever find anything admirable about him.

Regardless, Kaito Kid had Fan Clubs all over the world. Why wouldn't he have one in Gotham?

The crowd in front of the museum was holding Kaito Kid signs, wore Kaito Kid shirts, and a few had even dressed as him. That last group had been escorted away by the police, something they really should have seen coming.

The enemy was a master of disguise. There was no needed to provide him with even more distractions.

Because that was what the crowd was, Batman realized from his position on a rooftop, a distraction.

The crowd, the spotlight, the dozens of police officers, the screaming fans. Every single part of it was noise. It was flash. It dazzled, enchanted, and confused. The police would try to chase him, but they would only get in each other's way. The crowd would roar and they would become the strongest shield. The spotlight would keep everyone's eyes away from the real trick.

This was the stage build by the International Criminal #1412.

Batman had removed himself from it. He watched all the proceedings through a set of binoculars from a rooftop more than three buildings away.

As the minutes passed the crowd grew restless with anticipation. The tension grew with each second gone by. People kept checking their phones. They looked at the sky in search of the elusive white-clad thief. Even the police was not unaffected. Their eyes kept darting around and their hands started to sweat.

It was ridiculous. They had dealt with worse than a mere thief, far worse but the pressure created by the crowd had nothing to do with terror.

This was, in a word, entertainment!

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

The clock hit twelve. A smooth, confident voice came out of every single speaker.

The crowd _roared_.

Camera flashes went off. Eyes darted around looking for the source of the voice.

"Over there! Look!"

One finger pointed. All eyes soon followed and with them the spotlight.

Kaito Kid had arrived.

His body stood perpendicular to the museum's walls in complete defiance of the laws of gravity. His top hat obscured his face and his dashing white suit commanded all eyes to turn to him, to look at him and only him.

"People of Gotham! The time has come! Get ready for the greatest show in the world!" Kid said, raising his arms to rouse the crowd.

Kaito Kid started walking along the surface of the museum's wall as if it was nothing but flat ground. Batman deduced a combination of thin wires, an impeccable sense of balance, and some sort of adhesive on the soles of his shoes created the illusion.

The crowd didn't and they loved it. The spotlight and cameras followed his every move.

At last he stopped. It was, Batman noted, in a spot far enough from the windows that the police would have a hard time getting to him.

"Inside this museum lies one of the largest emeralds in the world!" Kaito Kid said. His voice, full of energy, reached every ear. "Gotham's finest no doubt wait for me inside. However, I am afraid I must disappoint them. I have no intention of setting foot inside the museum."

Murmurs of confusion rose from the crow.

"You see," Kid said, "Tonight's show is Summoning Magic!"

He raised one slender finger and pointed to the space in front of him. "Right here, in front of your eyes, I shall conjure the emerald from its prison!"

Confusion switched to excitement.

"Count with me!" Kaito Kid said with a smile that made more than one girl faint as he raised three fingers.

"Three!"

"Two" The Crowd chanted.

"One!"

A brilliant flash of light exploded before Kaito Kid. A flashbang, Batman guessed.

Once the light faded, everyone could see the large emerald in the thief's outstretched hand. Later there would be speculation and numerous theories as to how the thief had done it.

For now, there was only wonder.

"It's there!"

"Amazing!"

"He did it! He really did it!"

"Thanks to you all! You have been a most wonderful audience!" Kaito said, taking a bow. "Let us meet again on another moonlit night."

This time a cloud of smoke rose up around him. A white glider burst from the smoke just as the police had found a way to reach him on the museum's outer wall.

The crowd cheered and laughed as the thief got away.

It was the moment Batman had been waiting for.

Batman was not Kudo Shinichi. When faced with the Gordian Knot, Kudo Shinichi would try his hardest to untie it.

Breaking it was not allowed, because, above all, Kudo Shinichi needed to know. He needed to understand. The puzzled needed to be dissected in its entirety, so Kudo Shinichi would relentlessly try to solve it. He would most likely succeed to.

However, Batman was not Kudo Shinichi.

What Kudo Shinichi would try his hardest to unravel, Batman will simply cut in half.

Kudo Shinichi would have tried to dissect every one of Kaito's tricks.

Batman could have tried that, but he knew he didn't have to.

He didn't need to unravel the trick. He didn't need to figure out the disguise. He didn't need to chase after him in the middle of a crowd. He didn't need to play by any of Kaito's rules.

He just needed to know exactly which path Kaito would take as he fled in his trademark white glider. Batman knew thieves. He knew escape routes and he knew air currents. Calculating Kaito Kid's escape route and lying in wait for the right moment came naturally to him. Once Kaito was close enough, he struck.

Kaito Kid did not see the batarang coming until the last second.

The thief tried veering to the side, but the batarang was faster. A glance to his side told him all he needed to know. His glider now sported a nice tear in it. It was not big but it was significant. He was losing altitude fast.

The thief leaped out of his glider to dodge the next round of batarangs and gracefully landed on the same rooftop as the world's greatest detective.

If his appearance in any way rattled Kid, he did not show it.

"I had wondered whether the famous hero of Gotham would grace me with his presence. I must admit I was somewhat disappointed when you did not show up to stop me in the museum," Kaito Kid said.

The thief held himself with easy-going confidence. That was how he made it look at least. Batman knew better. His eyes were taking every inch of the roof and mapping all possible escape routes, his muscles ready to move at any moment.

"If I had wanted to stop you at the museum, I would have been there an hour ago," Batman said, reaching to grab another set of batarangs from his belt. The motion was obscured by his cloak.

Kid's eyes widened by the smallest fraction of an inch, it was the only physical reaction he gave.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" He asked.

"Your note," Batman said, calculating the distance between the two and ever so slightly inching towards the best position to strike. "'Two hands reaching at the sky before daylight.' The hands of a clock. The police thought the last part of the phrase meant the theft would take place at 12:00 PM."

"One would assume so," Kaito said. Batman noticed him pulling something small from under his glove. "That is, after all, the time."

"It was unneeded," Batman said. "Your heists overwhelmingly take place after daylight and your note already mentioned the theft would happen under the moonlight. Then there is the use of the word "save" to consider."

Kaito smiled. "Oh my, you put so much time into analyzing me, I have no choice but to conclude you are a fan of mine. Well then, what is the answer, good sir?"

"Daylight Saving Time," Batman replied. "You were asking us to look at the clock as it was before Daylight Saving Time was applied, 11:00 PM. You stole the gem one hour ago. By the time you showed yourself in front of the crowd, the gem was already in your possession."

By then it was simply a matter of cancelling whatever measure he had used to make the police believe the gem was still there. Perhaps it was a duplicate of some sort or even a projection. It did not matter.

Kaito Kid would have plenty of time to explain himself in the police station.

This time Kaito did see the Batarangs coming to his face. He ducked underneath them and slammed a smoke bomb on the ground.

Batman had already switched to infrared vision. Kaito left the smoke cloud only to find Batman right behind him.

Black and White clashed under the moonlight.

The exchange lasted all of two seconds.

Kaito bent in ways human bodies were not supposed to, slipping and twisting away from his strikes by a hair's breadth. Batman was distantly reminded of the Joker, but while the clown's movements were wild and erratic, Kaito Kid moved with impossible grace.

For his part, Kaito was reminded of the Prince of Kicks. The Caped Crusader did not have Kyogoku Makoto's sheer brute strength, but his agility and speed were every bit as good. The skill, however, was on a completely different level. Makoto was a master of Karate. Kaito was certain Batman had mastered more martial arts styles than he could name.

Batman drew a capsule from his belt and threw it at him. The motion bought Kaito the second he needed.

He jumped off the roof.

Many things happened at once. The capsule landed where Kaito had stood less than a second ago, exploding into a sticky, gum-like substance that would have surely trapped the thief had it hit him. Kaito twisted through the air and fired a grappling hook from his gun.

Batman followed suit and within moments they were both swinging between buildings.

This was what Batman had counted on, and a situation Kaito Kid had never encountered. He had never faced someone who could keep pace with him like this.

It was a simple tactic and brutally effective because of it.

There was no crowd and no spotlight here. Just a man in white running through the rooftops with Batman at his heels.

Kaito couldn't help it. He laughed.

"I take it back, detective!" He said, as he leaped with all his strength. "You are not a fan. You are, most definitely, a critic!"

He was going to get caught, Kid realized.

If he kept this up, he would most definitely be caught. Batman had arranged this match to play to his strengths. He was no slouch in the physical department but the superhero was something else.

Only one way out then.

"However," Kid said drawing something out of his jacket, "I think you care a bit more about this, don't you?"

Moonlight reflected on the large emerald in his hands before he threw it off the rooftop to the street below.

Batman's eyes widened.

The probability of the emerald not breaking from the fall was low. The probability of a random crook not finding it and taking it for himself in the time it took for him to capture Kaito was even lower.

Gotham was just that type of city.

The caped crusader dove after it. His body rushed through the air at frightening speeds, his hand outstretched.

At the last second, Batman snatched the gem from the air and fired his grappling hook gun. Once he held the gem in his hands, he noticed a note attached to it.

 _My apologies, but this is not the jewel I am looking for._

 _-Kaito Kid-_

By the time Batman returned to the rooftop Kaoto Kid was long gone.

xXx

After delivering the emerald back to Commissioner Gordon, stopping five purse snatchers, three would-be murderers, and foiling one drug deal, Batman returned to the Batcave. Even though the sun had yet to rise, Alfred was already waiting for him. Perhaps he had never gone to sleep in the first place.

"Good morning, Master Bruce," he said, handling him a bottle of water and a towel for his sweat. "I saw the news. Congratulations on retrieving the emerald."

Bruce just nodded as he downed the water bottle in record time. Crime fighting took a lot out of a person, especially when one lacked actual superpowers.

"It is a shame the thief got away," Alfred added.

"He was better than expected," Bruce said and it was the truth. The thief had not showed any noteworthy fighting skill, but he was fast and agile in addition to his other skills. He could understand how he had gone for so long without being captured.

"Naturally," Alfred said in a placating voice. Bruce saw the insult coming before he heard it. "A magician dressed in a white suit is clearly more than a match for a man with over a decade's worth of training in several exotic lands, armed with over one thousand dollars in equipment. I hear the thief even uses doves, quite fearsome animals those."

Bruce took the hit without countering. Experience had taught him better than to argue with his butler. It somehow never seemed to work out for him.

As for Kaito Kid, if the thief knew what was good for him, he would not return to his city.

xXx

The next day after a perfectly timed video chat, a sufficiently loud remote-controlled recording, and a well-placed mannequin had created the illusion for Aoko that he was, in fact, in the house right next to her as usual, Kaito made his way to the airport.

This time he was John Kawasaki, business entrepreneur, who just had to take a last minute flight to Tokyo. His wife had given birth well ahead of schedule. It was a girl. Lovely little thing and, oh, wouldn't you want to see some pictures? He had one with his wife as well. Oh, and here was their wedding day! Wasn't his wife just beautiful?

Sometimes it was too easy.

As Kaito fastened his seat-belt he found himself thinking back on last night.

Last night had been amazing.

He had been chased by detectives before, but Batman had offered a different experience compared to Hakuba and Edogawa. The caped crusader hadn't even tried to catch him in the act or see through his tricks.

It was a match of a different sort but he could not say he had disliked it.

Oh, he was definitely returning to Gotham sometime.

xXx

 **Omake: Why Batman should use his Contact List!**

Kaito Kid was fast. Even if the enemy were to use bullets there would be no guarantee of capture.

Wally West, more commonly known as The Flash, was faster. The title of the World's Fastest Man wasn't just for show. He could run at three hundred thousand kilometers per second when he wasn't moving multiple orders of magnitude beyond that.

Nothing was supposed to be faster than the speed of light but evidently no one had decided to let the speedster know that little detail.

As good as Kaito Kid was there were some things he just was not equipped to handle.

"And this," Wally said as the cops led one handcuffed white-clad thief into the nearest patrol car, "is why you should call more often. I told you I can be here in the blink of an eye."

A literal blink of an eye.

Kaito Kid tried really hard to pretend he wasn't pouting. "Cheap move, detective. Cheap move."

Batman ignored them both and left for the rooftops but not before mentioning to Gordon that it might be for the best if they put the thief in a straitjacket.

The indignant glare the thief shot his way almost made him crack a smile. Almost.

xXx

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 **AN:** And that's that. This was fun but troublesome to write.

This was an idea that wouldn't leave my head, so I don't really have plans for a sequel (though if I did write one it would involve Zatanna and Akako somehow). Anyway, if you enjoyed this, consider checking out my other fanfics. If you enjoyed those, try checking out my original fiction. All relevant links are in my profile.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!


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